Logs In, Looks Around, Sees No One, Logs Out

This seems to be a common theme around the game these days.

Eight months after Turbine promised us Module 9, and it's still not out.

Funny thing is...

If you read the forums very carefully, Mod 9 is done and the developers are already working on post-Mod 9 content.

But players are weary of the wait.

It's especially discouraging when, on any given night, you can log in, look around, see no one, and then log out because there isn't anyone on that you want to run with.

Nor is there anything in particular you want to run.

At least, not without your friends.

And your friends don't want to run the same old content anymore.

Apparently, there's some contractual or legal stipulation that's holding up the release of Mod 9, but no one from Turbine will come right out and tell the players what's going on.  I'm beginning to think Turbine is working in collusion with the Cheney administration.

No, I'm not going all political on everyone.  Just an observation that both Turbine and Cheney prefer to keep everyone in the dark.

Perhaps its a matter of national security?

Who knows.

All I know is that when you do manage to find a few friends in-game, it's pretty sad when you *have* to resort to hirelings just to fill out your party and run a quest.

A big part of the reason I joined DDO was because there were other people out there to enjoy the game with.  Those other people introduce a certain degree of randomness to otherwise predictable encounters.  That's what makes the game interesting.

But, when you have to substitute those other people with artificially intelligent characters that, in many ways, behave the same way as the artificially intelligent opposition, the game loses its appeal.

I'm not putting down the hireling system for what it was intended to be, I'm putting it down for what it's become.

It was supposed to be there to help folks who were having difficulty finding someone to help them complete a quest, or to accompany them when they were feeling somewhat anti-social, or when they wanted to otherwise solo some content.

The problem is that hirelings have become a necessity to run the better part of the game's content.  At least, on the Ghallanda server, it seems that most players are running the high-end content to cap all of their characters before the level increase...

*IF* we ever get one...

or they aren't running anything at all.

We have a small, select group in the Face Stabbing Misfits who like to run some of the lower-level raids, like the Vault of Night.  Sure, it isn't near as "exciting" as The Shroud, in terms of the loot you *might* be able to pull, but it's still a lot of fun to those of us who enjoy the occasional raid with lower-level characters.

Some of us aren't in the game to bolt to the level cap.  Rather, we're in the game to enjoy the game's content and the time with our friends.

The problem is that most of our friends are finding other things to do because Turbine has seriously dropped the ball this time.

To quote South Park...  "I'm a saaaaaaad Panda."